Read Joshua 20
Focus on verse 2
There is more than a little controversy and abundant misunderstanding in current media and politics over the idea of sanctuary cities/states. I do not intend to address the rightness or wrongness or legality of sanctuary cities in this post. There are moral and legal arguments both for and against the concept of a sanctuary city that can be made depending upon one’s political and moral assumptions. The purpose of this post is not to persuade in one direction or another on this issue, but rather to point out that this concept of a city of refuge was initially God’s idea and had a very specific purpose.
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. (v. 1-3)
The Lord instructed Moses to direct the people to set aside six cities throughout the land as cities of refuge. Why did they need cities of refuge? Apparently, the custom of the culture at the time was that if one someone was accidentally killed by another person, the family of the deceased person could designate a member as the “avenger of blood” who would then hunt down and kill the person who murdered his relative. The cities of refuge were therefore designated as safe havens for people who accidentally or inadvertently were responsible for the death of another person.
The way it was to work was that the guilty party would state his case to the elders at the entrance of the city. If the elders decide that stand at the entrance of the city and explain his case to the elders. If the elders deem that he did not kill the person with intent but inadvertently, then they shall take him into the city and he would remain there until the death of the High priest after which he could return safely to his hometown. If prior to that time the avenger of blood were to find him outside the city of refuge it would be within the right of the avenger of blood to kill the person who did not remain in the city of refuge.
So what does all this mean for us today? Is there any symbolism that resonates from this in regard to our understanding of God? Perhaps one could view it this way:
We have all sinned and it is our sin that put Jesus on the cross and made it necessary for Him to die. Though we did not participate intentionally in His murder, we are all responsible to some extent for His death.
Who then is the avenger of blood? It is the one who has the rights to our eternal future. Initially, God held these rights as our creator. When Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they handed those rights to the Satan, the snake that talked them into disobeying God. (Genesis 3) God, however, did not leave us without a city of refuge — so to speak. In that same chapter of Genesis God reveals the first promise of redemption through one who would be born of woman and who would crush the head of that snake called Satan.
Since the coming of Christ, God has revealed further to us how we can find refuge from this spiritual avenger of blood—the snake who technically has the right to our lives. Christ Himself is that place of refuge. For those who repent of their rebellion against God and enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ find refuge in Him. As long as we hide ourselves in Him, we are safe and secure, and Satan no longer has jurisdiction over us. It is then only when we choose to wander out of the city of refuge (away from the protection of Christ) that we put ourselves at risk of being attacked.
